1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an operating pedal device for an automobile, in which an operating pedal having a depression portion at its lower end and forward-rearward swingably supported on a pedal bracket connected to a dashboard of a vehicle body is connected to an input rod of an actuating device mounted to a front surface of the dashboard. More particularly, this invention relates to an improvement in an operating pedal device for an automobile which is designed to suppress rearward movement of a depression portion of an operating pedal caused by rearward movement of a dashboard upon frontal collision of the automobile.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent No. 3267182 (hereinafter, “Patent Document 1”) discloses an operating pedal device for an automobile, which is designed to suppress rearward movement of a depression portion of an operating pedal caused by rearward movement of a dashboard upon frontal collision of the automobile. In this device, a pedal bracket is constructed to be plastically deformed upon reception of a shock load equal to or larger than a predetermined value, and an operating member having a high rigidity and fixedly mounted on a support member constituting a portion of a vehicle body is opposed to the pedal bracket in the rear of the pedal bracket so that the pedal bracket is plastically deformed by the shock load applied by the operating member in response to the rearward movement of the pedal bracket; thereby, suppressing the rearward movement of the operating pedal.
In the operating pedal device described in Patent Document 1, the pedal bracket is plastically deformed by the shock load applied by the operating member in response to the rearward movement of the pedal bracket the upon the frontal collision of the automobile. Therefore, such an operating pedal device has the following drawbacks: sufficient enhancement in rigidity of the pedal bracket for supporting the operating pedal is limited; increase in weight of the vehicle body is brought about by need for sufficiently increasing the rigidity of the support portion for supporting the operating member. Moreover, it is difficult to stabilize the plastic deformation characteristic of the pedal bracket.